No one can doubt their heroism, but why do we, as a society, have policies that forced them to run into gunfire UNARMED? We don't even require that of SEALS!

Of course not every teacher should carry. And armed teachers of small children should be specially trained. But a total ban is just silly.

And why should visiting parents, people with CCW permits, be forbidden to carry on school grounds? For ideological purity?! A child is less likely to be killed by a CCW permit holder than to be struck by lightening; the hysteria about CCW permittees in schools is totally out of touch with reality.

President Obama's balanced approach is right:

The fact is, almost all gun owners in America are highly responsible. They're our friends and neighbors. They buy their guns legally and use them safely, whether for hunting or target shooting, collection or protection. And that's something that gun-safety advocates need to accept. Likewise, advocates for gun owners should accept the awful reality that gun violence affects Americans everywhere, whether on the streets of Chicago or at a supermarket in Tucson.

146. You try teaching in a bullet-proof vest. I had enough trouble teaching in a suit vest.

51. I am guessing a very large percentage

of pro-2A people would agree with you. How do you suggest we do that?

Unfortunately - look at Holmes and Laughner. Where in the process of people (including authorities and administrators) having and expressing GREAT concerns about their mental stability could they have had either of these people declared incompetent? It should have been done. But how?

And are we willing to aply that same test to any of the other amendments? Because like it or not that is the challenge

121. So there goes the "guns save lives" argument, as shooters will just get body armor.

133. A "bulletproof vest" does not confer invincibility.

It's still going to feel like getting gut-punched. It will slow, shock and distract the criminal, very likely disable them. And they only cover a limited area, basicallt spine and C-P from the front.

Also pretty rare for criminals to use actual body armor. What is sometimes initially reported as such, later turns out to be a "tactical vest" which is basically a fishing/photography vest; lots of pockets, no armor.

19. Yes, with the same tired talking points. n/t

101. DU has been infiltrated with whack jobs from the very beginning

We have more Reaganites here than anything else.

And before some Independent makes an ass out of himself pointing out that a lot of Democrats voted for Reagan they need to remember a larger percentage if Independents voted for Reagan than Democrats did.

True story.

I never did trust any Independents. Here or anywhere else. They suck big time.

10. Do good people with guns have sensors that alert them to trouble nearby???

Like batman or spiderman??

No. They just have to hope they're in the right place at the right time, and if the gun nuts I know are ever in that situation I'm 99% sure they'll be crying and shitting themselves in the corner rather than having the courage to actually do the right thing.

159. I am hardly the ignorant one

You think you have a right to endanger my kids and my classroom. You assume everyone thinks paranoid gun toting numbskulls clutching their CWP like a security blanket make the rest of us feel safer. This makes you out of touch and dangerous in my view. The last person to be trusted to carry a firearm near children!

30. Yes, more guns is what we need. Puke. nt

31. Please.

The person likely had an assault weapon, which is pretty much going to obliterate anyone with a regular gun. But go on defending this shit while stepping on the backs of the children gunned down today in cold blood, and countless others gunned down in cold blood again and again and again and again.

Statistically, I think your estimate of accidental shootings is way off, just like I think your idea of weapon is wrong, or at least premature. Even if it isn't, a pistol is a better weapon against an assault weapon than a fist.

Thanks for making a reasoned argument, however. That's what we Democrats are supposed to be about.

67. This is what gave me that impression:

White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters Friday that the Obama administration would not be engaging in a “policy debate” regarding gun control today, in the wake of an elementary school massacre in Connecticut.

A ban on “assault weapons” remains a long-standing goal of President Barack Obama, but “today is not a day… to engage in the usual policy debates,” said Carney.

SNIP

Under a 1993 state law, possession of “assault weapons” is banned in Connecticut.

“Assault weapons” is a politically-flexible term, often used for semi-automatic weapons that look like soldiers’ personal weapons, such as the M-4 carbine.

92. Reports are that there was a .223 caliber rifle seized.

The AP reported that the attacker in Connecticut is a 20- year-old man. A law-enforcement official in Washington said that one gun used in the attacks is a .223-caliber rifle, the news service reported. The official spoke to AP on condition of anonymity because the source was not authorized to speak on the record about the developing investigation.

107. Just watched a video interview with a surviving student.

Leaving aside for now the matter of whether conducting such an interview with a child just after such an experience is anything even resembling responsible journalism, the remarkably composed little girl mentioned hearing several loud "booms." I'm not sure if this is conclusive, but fwiw, .223 rifles don't really go "boom," them make more of a loud "crack." The 9mm pistols found, on the other hand, have more of a booming report (and have the magazine capacity to account for the multiple shots). Of course, who knows what word the little girl would have used to describe the sound? I doubt she was trying to be coolly analytic with her choice of terms under such circumstances. I guess we'll know which weapons were actually used soon enough.

52. Yeah, I'd like a gun to be in my child's classroom

in the custody of someone whose judgement I cannot know or depend on. Will they have the gun strapped to their hip during class time? What happens if that teacher leaves the gun unattended to with curious children around? When does the teacher whip it out for self-protection? Of course they can't do it too late in case a shooter invades. Do they draw the gun if anyone they see has a bulge under their clothes?

58. Kindergarten teachers = Navy SEALs, both groups should

60. Now we have to be friggin Annie Oakley too?

No, thank you. I work with special needs kids, and I have experienced school lockdowns 2x in Florida with armed gunman on campus.

So I would have grab my CP kid out of his wheelchair, carry and run with him, while I am shooting at gunman????? The teacher in the class can just get her gun out of her desk and start shooting with a class of twelve 4 year olds around the room??????

81. If the shooter hadn't been able to get a gun ...

82. You disgust me.

This happened less than five miles from my house, and I can see the hospital where victims were taken from my living room window. You have to be delusional if you think that guns are the solution. Get psychological help; you need it.

84. Are the teachers supposed to be armed security guards?

85. I am a teacher and I do NOT want armed teachers my building

No. I am sorry. Just no. If I had a gun in this situation and started shooting with all of the chaos, I would have killed even more people. Did you ever see the video from inside Columbine High school? Total chaos. Kids running all over the place, you cannot even tell who the killers were for the most part.

114. Absolutely agree

88. Interestingly enough....

In the Tacoma Mall shooting a few years ago, the only person who ended up with life-threatening (and permanently debilitating) injuries was the would-be hero who pulled his firearm and confronted the shooter. Bonus trivia - said Rambo wannabe was actually a self defense instructor. Extra bonus trivia - The guy who talked the shooter down and brought about a peaceful resolution was an unarmed soldier who had recently returned from combat in the M. E.

100. Great example of why the OP's idea is not a good one. Thank you.

104. IIRC, he was in a nearby store and had to run to the scene. Also, he never drew his weapon,

he simply put his hand on the holstered weapon before correctly accessing the situation.

A police officer would have done exactly what he did. (Well, actually I think if you research you'll find that civilians are less likely to shoot the wrong person than police, so perhaps the cop would have followed through.)

110. +1,000. n/t.

98. You (and people like you) make me sick.

I hope you never have to feel the anguish that the parents in CT tonight will feel.
The hollowness and cold, ice cold chill that courses through you when you find out that you have lost a child...nevermind that you lost a child to a maniac who EXECUTED THEM WITH A HANDGUN!!!!

FUCK YOU.
Take your gun, shove it straight up your ass and SQUEEZE THE TRIGGER...

My heart and soul bleed today and these are not my children.
My children are in a different school but the same age.

You want to defend guns? Go find some NRA buddies, have a circle jerk after a round of shooting and kindly fuck right off...the rest of the humans on this planet are horrified that your thoughts are drawn to inanimate objects, instruments of death and insane ideas about the value of guns.

I would give up the right of EVERY AMERICAN to have a handgun of ANY kind for just ONE of those 18 children to have ONE more day with their family, ONE more Christmas, ONE more hug, ONE more kiss, ONE more laugh, One more lunch...

DO YOU GET IT YET????? THEY ARE GONE AND THEY ARE GONE IN PART BECAUSE OF GUNS AND THE ABILITY OF LUNATICS TO GET THEM, USE THEM AND KILL WITH THEM...

130. Well Stated n/t

99. Yes, then could be even MORE dead people when someone shoots the wrong person.

You cannot shoot a gun off in the middle of a group of kids and adults. The more guns there are laying around, the more chances there are that someone gets shot accidentally, that someone uses it in a moment of passion/anger, or that it falls into the wrong hands.

113. Holy shit. You're serious.

116. Sure let's just arm up our teachers

Then what's your excuse when a Teacher goes berserk and decides to shoot-up the classroom.

The gun problem solution isn't more guns. More guns just means more opportunities to ensure that someone who isn't playing with a full deck or has a gripe against someone else can just use '2nd amendment laws' to deal with their problems.

I have no problems with guns, I come from a family that owns guns. And those that owns make sure they know how to use them and keeps them locked up when not in use.

What's worse with this crime is that the shooter had automatic weapons, someone that a few years ago was not available in this country. But thanks to our congress led by GOP gunnuts, they let the assault weapon ban expire.

I can't say whether or not the ban would have prevented this but if the guy didn't have such highpowered weapons maybe we could have prevented more deaths IF it happened.

145. Guns do not do good in the hands of good people.

138. We are now forced to practically strip to get on an airplane. Time for guard shacks at the entrance

to all schools now. No problem, just put up barbed wire fences, cut a cafeteria worker, a couple of teacher's aides, and a secretary or two and strip down kids and parents as they come to school. (Don't forget to vote against the Teacher's Union for decent, let along combat, pay) Hire a trained military returnee/Vet or two from the Middle Eastern Wars of Choice and it's a Full Circle Employment Plan. Before long, we will look just like those we seek to liberate from their domestic terrorists.

May God or Goddess have mercy on our souls. And RIP our grieving families from the latest American terrorist massacre.